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Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Intergenerational Responsibility

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Klockmann

    (Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, JMU - Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Max Planck Institute for Human Development - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)

  • Alicia von Schenk

    (Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, JMU - Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Max Planck Institute for Human Development - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)

  • Marie Claire Villeval

    (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

In the future, artificially intelligent algorithms will make more and more decisions on behalf of humans that involve humans' social preferences. They can learn these preferences through the repeated observation of human behavior in social encounters. In such a context, do individuals adjust the selfishness or prosociality of their behavior when it is common knowledge that their actions produce various externalities through the training of an algorithm? In an online experiment, we let participants' choices in dictator games train an algorithm. Thereby, they create an externality on future decision making of an intelligent system that affects future participants. We show that individuals who are aware of the consequences of their training on the payoffs of a future generation behave more prosocially, but only when they bear the risk of being harmed themselves by future algorithmic choices. In that case, the externality of artificially intelligence training increases the share of egalitarian decisions in the present.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Klockmann & Alicia von Schenk & Marie Claire Villeval, 2022. "Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Intergenerational Responsibility," Post-Print hal-03778525, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03778525
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.09.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Aurélie Halsband, 2022. "Sustainable AI and Intergenerational Justice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-11, March.
    2. Victor Klockmann & Alicia von Schenk & Marie Claire Villeval, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Diffused Pivotality," Working Papers halshs-03237453, HAL.
    3. Maggioni, Mario A. & Rossignoli, Domenico, 2023. "If it looks like a human and speaks like a human ... Communication and cooperation in strategic Human–Robot interactions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Artificial Intelligence; Morality; Prosociality; Generations; Externalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C49 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Other
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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